Can you identify this insect for me???

Without question, the most common question we are asked as entomologists is to identify an insect that someone finds interesting, or invading their homes, or as a pest in their crops or gardens. Unfortunately, the accurate identification of an insect is often a difficult task requiring close scrutiny of the insect under a microscope - or even requiring dissection of that insect. Furthermore, many people do not realize how diverse the insects are and how much information is necessary to provide an accurate identification. All too often, someone will ask us over e-mail to identify an insect, and give a description similar to "it is brown, kind of oval shaped, and has six legs." Obviously we couldn't even hazard a guess as to what this insect is.

While we do not provide official public insect identification service through this web site, we will do our best to answer your question if you provide a description via e-mail. Please keep these tips in mind before submitting a question about identification.

1. How many legs does it have? Without question, if your animal does not have six legs (either more or less), you do not have an insect. Spiders, daddy longlegs, centipedes, millipedes, sow bugs (pill bugs), ticks, mites, scorpions - none of these are insects. While we are best at identifying insects, we may give a try at other non-insect arthropods such as these.

2. Where did you find the insect? Sometimes one of the best clues to identifying an insect has nothing to do with the appearance of the insect itself. Habitat provides numerous clues to an insect's identity. Always include the city you are writing from as well as a description of where you found the insect (in a pile of logs, in your basement, on a flower, etc.). This will aid greatly.

3. Include as much detail in your description as possible. As mentioned above, because of the diversity of insects in the world, include as many details as possible - color, hairiness, size, whether it was flying or not, etc. The more you describe it, the better chance we have to identify it.

4. Do you have a picture? A picture is worth a thousand words - perhaps even more in this case. Including a photo (in a small, computer friendly format such as gif or jpg) will GREATLY enhance the chances of us making an identification.

Finally, we make no guarantees as to our ability to accurately identify an insect over e-mail. This informal identification courtesy is NOT guaranteed to be accurate, nor should it be used as anything more than an opportunity to do further research on your own to determine the true identity of your insect. Also, because of the sometimes great amount of effort it takes to identify an insect, you may not hear from us for a while - this service is provided as courtesy, and all identifications are provided if time permits us to consider your e-mail. We will try our best to answer your e-mail, but your patience and understanding is greatly appreciated.

Now that you have made it through our tips for asking us to identify an insect, you can E-MAIL US with your query (p-nixon1@uiuc.edu). Please try to take the suggestions above to heart. THANK YOU!